Just Deserts
by Liam-Yarbrough
Summary: The cards themselves aren't just pawns in a game anymore.


Peten banged his face against the dark wall. He tried to pull the mask from his face but it wouldn't budge. His fingers cracked the edges of the mask once in a scratching fit but the pain radiated into his face. Was this mask actually his face?

The madness behind his masked visage was only apparent to his brothers. They felt the pain also. There were three of them in this dark cell. No light of any kind illuminated this oubliette save one. Only when they were called away, ripped from their cell and placed on a board like chess pieces did they see the light. Their madness echoed the halls of this limbo and pierced the ears of the others that lay in wait in their respective cells. The sounds of horror and wanting plagued all eternity here. Not only to Peten and his brothers but the others in their cells wriggled in pain in unison. There was only the waiting and suffering, waiting to be called away into the _Game._

But the calls of insanity were broken this night. Peten banged his head against the hard cold floor of his cell and his brothers lamented with him. Then there was a voice.

"Peten, I understand. I have been here much longer than you and your brothers." The voice seemed to penetrate into Peten's broken mind. "We share this pain as we wait but there _is_ a way out."

"Who, who, whoooo, HAHAHA,..who's there? Does the game start again? HAHAHAHHHA"

"No Peten. No game this time. Look up and open your eyes. Tell your brothers as well"

"Do you scoff at me master? HAHAHAHA! Tease me? Mock mmmmee? Ridicule US? HAHAHHAHAHHHA"

"I am not your master Peten, I am..." The Witty Phantom paused, searching his mind for a word or phrase that would spark a light into the dark mind of the insane clown. "...Like a _brother_. Now push aside your madness and gather your brethren. You will understand soon."

* * *

Pegasus lay sleeping in his extravagant bed, tucked tighly in by a favorite bottle of wine he finished just hours ago. His usual dreams this night were torn by a troubled message from beyond.

"Would you know how it feels Pegasus? Do you have any _idea_ what its like to be ripped away from this prison only to serve someone in your moments of freedom?" The voice was distant but carried a tone of sarcasm and pain.

"Who are you? Where are you?" Pegasus appeared floating above a sea that seemed troubled by a storm that was brewing in the distance. The sky was orange like the dawn and bits of land floated in the air like small islands. He could see he was far above the clouds. "Answer me!"

"Who am I? What gives you the right to ask me?" The demonic voice shouted angrily as the sky shifted from orange to red. "As I said before, do you know what its like to be ripped away?" The taunting voice laughed and Pegasus thrashed about in his bed like a fish out of water.

"Fine, don't show yourself. Only a coward would conceal himself but you are wise to tremble before my might. You do yourself a service _not_ appearing!" Pegasus let out a hardy laugh to try and hide his fear through arrogance.

The clouds rolled back and the water became still in the ocean below. The pieces of land that floated around Pegasus slowly began to descend as did he. His fearful dream may have reached an end he thought. But as he got closer to the ocean below, and his feet landed softly on the island the chunks of earth had formed he gasped in sudden horror. Standing before him was a creature almost the size of a man. The fiend was dressed in a blackened-purple suit, white gloves and a tie around its neck that matched the color of its urine yellow hair. It smiled to show jagged teeth as it took off its top-hat and gave a curtsey bow. "I preside over the shadows Pegasus. Do you remember me?"

"The Witty Phantom?" Pegasus tried to contain his laughter. "Are you serious? HAHAHAHAHA. For a moment I was worried you might have been some ancient force come to harm me. Its just you, a silly useless card that I created. Now I know this is just a dream! HAHAHAHA" He bent over to hold his stomach as his nervous stomach was now full of jovial humor. He looked up to gaze at the phantom again and continuted to laugh.

"Your vanity is delicious Pegasus and _that_ we find amusing ourselves. Your haughtiness truly allows you to believe you shaped us? You suppose me and our legions are just cards in your foolish game?" Pegasus laughter stopped and his mind sharpened at the insults.

"Yes youre just a card in a game you miserable demon. I brought you to life in Duel Monsters. Its above me to even argue this subject." He put his hand to his chin and stroked it in thought while looking into the phantoms eyes. "There is no doubt in my mind that all you are and all this is the wine I drank before bed." He began his laughter again. "Good night phantom, I have other dreams to visit. It was nice of you to stop by!" He turned his back to the demon and began walking across the water on to his next dream.

"Arrogant bastard!" The phantom shouted at him as he walked away. He extended his hand out and his palm began to glow with a sinister power. A shadowy sword-shaped object materialized and the phantom grasped it into reality. The weapon had a blood-red blade and at its hilt the shape of a dragon head and wings. "I summon forth _Yami no Ken_, the Sword of Dark Destruction!"

"What?" Pegasus twisted to see what the phantom was doing but he wasn't walking in his dream any longer. His feet were chilly on his marble floor inside his bedroom and he was looking back into a great mirror that was nestled next to the wall across from his bed. He was conscious now and knew he must have been walking in his sleep. He had mere seconds to appreciate his situation before he saw a perverse form in the mirror. "What is the meaning of this?" His voice trembled as he approached the mirror for a closer look at the unnatural form contained by it.

Without forewarning the shadowy form jumped from the reflective surface of the polished glass and hurried past him, cutting deep into his flesh with something ablaze. Pegasus winced in pain and grabbed at his arm to find it had been detached just above the elbow. The demonic hilarity of the phantom filled the room as Pegasus screamed at the spectacle of his arm lying across the room on the flooring. He spun around like a top penetrating the nightly haze for the cause of the piercing taunts and he saw something perched above a window.


End file.
